


Seal My Heart And Break My Pride

by Eternal Scribe (Shadowcat)



Series: GatheringFiKi - 12 Days of Christmas 2018 [11]
Category: Being Human (UK), The Almighty Johnsons
Genre: Broken Anders, Canonical Character Death, M/M, Mike Is Calling A Thing, Pissed Off Family, The Gods Take Bristol, Things are not as they seem, in theory
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-12-24
Updated: 2018-12-24
Packaged: 2019-09-26 00:49:27
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,856
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17131880
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Shadowcat/pseuds/Eternal%20Scribe
Summary: Mitchell is dead... or so the Johnsons believe.After Mike calls a Thing and the Norse gods head to Bristol to take out the trash and get some vengeance.Of course, in the lives of Gods, weres, and vampires, nothing is ever as it seems.





	Seal My Heart And Break My Pride

**Author's Note:**

> Written for the GatheringFiKi - 12 Days of Christmas 2018 on Tumblr

It wasn't unusual to find Anders Johnson drinking alcohol so early in the day. In fact, at one time, it had been an expectation of him. His brothers got used to coming over to get him for something and finding him halfway to a good drunk. It was something that had pissed them off to no end, but also something that they had written off as being one more bit of evidence that Anders didn't care about anything or anyone but himself.

Something that over the last year they had been forced to adjust their thinking about.

So while it wasn't unusual for him to be found drinking and close to royally pissed this early in the day, what was unusual was that he was not alone; nor was he the only Johnson that was drinking. What was also unusual was that all of the brothers and their grandfather had come to Anders' place without any kind of invitation and without the intent of dragging him out to go do anything. What was even more unusual was that all of them, including Olaf, showed signs of sorrow on their faces.

It was Mike who finally broke the silence. "Do you know how it happened?"

Anders took another long drink from the bourbon in his glass, his eyes not even focusing when Ty poured more into it for him. He nodded, whether in thanks or an answer to Mike's question wasn't clear. "He was staked."

Mike wasn't the only one in the room who clenched his jaw. They hadn't known Mitchell as well as Anders -- no one knew Mitchell quite as well as Anders and they were fine with that -- but he had been one that they called _theirs_. His loyalty and devotion to Anders, as well as his willingness to put his own existence at risk for him, had earned their respect and consideration. Hearing that he had been _staked_ was not something that they wanted to think about. They had seen what staking an older vampire could do. Hell, Mitchell had been the one that showed them that when they first met him on a hunt.

Luckily for him, he had been hunting the one hunting the vampire that had targeted one of the girls they cared about. It was the only thing that had saved his ass that night.

"Who did it?"

Ty's voice was cold, but that wasn't unusual for someone who embodied the essence of Hod. When he got angry or upset, it often showed in his voice.

"George."

The entire room went silent, and even Olaf took whatever he was smoking out of his mouth to stare at his grandson, his eyes narrowing as he fought back his own anger. "Tell me that I did not just hear that."

Anders' eyes were shiny as he looked up for the first time and every male there knew it wasn't from alcohol or any other kind of drug. Those were tears, something that Anders always tried not to show his brothers if he could help it. Just one more thing that they had learned about the brother they treated as an outsider because they didn't think he cared about them or anything but his own enjoyment. Just one more thing to add to the list of things they owed Mitchell.

"No, you heard me right, old man." His voice sounded hoarse like something had been applied to his throat and scraped it raw from the inside. "George Sands staked him and killed him."

This time the reaction came from Axl as he jumped to his feet with a growl. His eyes were hard and angry and he looked like he was barely containing his rage. "I'll kill him. I will fucking tear him apart with my bare hands." Odin was not one to mince words or mess with when he was angry. And while Axl saw the pain his brother was in, all Odin could see was the pain of his son. One of his sons that he would level the world to protect.

"He had no choice," Anders whispered, turning his face away and taking another long drink.

Mike scoffed. "Tell me you don't actually believe him, Andy. What possibly could have happened that his best mate had no choice but to kill him?" Because from what they knew of Mitchell's friends back in Bristol, none of them would have willingly hurt the others even to save their own lives.

"There was an incident, a massacre of some kind and Mitchell was involved in it. Even though he tried to confess and allow the police to arrest him and such, there was an old one asshole who managed to frame another man for the crime."

"That should have freed him, then, right?" Ty demanded. Granted, it worried him that Mitchell had been involved in anything that could be considered a _massacre_ but he still didn't want anything to happen to him, if only for the sake of Anders. "No trial, no prison, no problem."

"I don't know all of the details, except that because of this happening, Mitch knew that at some point, a powerful and older vampire would probably come around trying to get him to do something he wasn't willing to do because he had been done this _favor_." Anders sneered when he said the word.

The other four in the room exchanged looks and then Mike stood up. "Where's the phone, Andy? I'll ring George and get more details for you so we know where to proceed from here."

Anders looked up and Mike hated seeing the pain in his brother's eyes. Damn it, it had been so much fucking easier when he would be able to dismiss any look of vulnerability from his younger brother as an attempt to manipulate him. He hated seeing him so hurt and full of pain considering for most of his life, none of them had been given any indication that he could be hurt.

Well, except Axl, he amended to himself. Axl could see more into him than anyone else could.

"If it still works it might be behind the big aquarium... or inside it. I'm not sure exactly where I threw it. It's kind of a blur." He shrugged. "Not that my recollection about something being a blur is news to anyone."

The other brothers winced, but Olaf frowned. "Stop it, Anders. You know we don't think that not anymore. Haven't for awhile."

Anders shrugged slightly, staring down into his glass. Why did his escape look so much like the color of a set of eyes he would never be able to see again?

"Habit," he said weakly, hating the fact that he was feeling so off center and like he was floundering.

"Do we know the name of the bastard that left Mitchell only the choice between some kind of supernatural slavery and complete destruction?" Ty asked, needing to say or do something as this whole situation was one that he had never expected to be in.

Seeing _Anders_ of everyone look so broken? Anders who usually took whatever was doled out and responded with sarcasm and the words of an asshole? He didn't like that. Yes, he was glad that they were all getting along and that they knew more about their brother, but would they have been better without learning that knowledge if the one who made them see it was gone forever?

Anders shrugged at Ty's question and looked back into the glass as if it held all of the answers he was seeking. "I honestly don't know if George said anything about that or not. I think... no, I _know_ that my mind began to shut down and I couldn't think or process very much after being told that he had been killed. I should have tried, but I just... I mean... it was _John._. I knew we wouldn't be together forever but I was pretty confident I would be the one to go first. He was a fucking vampire; immortal!"

Mike had found the phone that Anders had thrown away from himself earlier. Luckily, it had not landed in any of the aquariums as his younger brother had thought it had. There were, however, cracks in the casing so it wasn't clear if it would still work correctly or not. He thought to say something that but stopped himself when he saw, again, just how devastated Anders was. This was no time to ask him about things that seemed so meaningless at the moment. Being comforting to Anders wasn't something he was used to.

And the fact that Bragi hadn't even come forth to try and convince any of them to say or do something specific in this case right now was further testament to how much this had broken Anders. Mike watched the others with their brother for a moment and then stepped further away to where he hoped was out of hearing range for Anders -- and Axl -- right now. He carefully pressed the buttons on the phone, going by memory for a number Mitchell provided them long ago.

"Anders!" The voice on the other end of the line exclaimed. "Gods, Mate, I am so damned glad you called back."

Mike shook his head. "Sorry, this is Mike, his older brother. Am I speaking to George Sands?"

The voice on the other line seemed to deflate. "Yeah, this is George. I'm going to guess that since big brother is calling me that Anders is not doing so well?"

"That's a very spot on guess," Mike sighed. "Look, George, I'm sorry to do this because I know you're probably hurting, too, but I need to know what the fuck happened over there. All Anders was able to tell me what that you staked Mitch. He's not raging against you, so that tells me all kind of shit happened and you were backed into some kind of a corner."

"No, it wasn't me that was in a corner with no way out, it was Mitchell. I was his only way out, only I didn't want to be. I didn't want to believe what he told me would end up happening. God, Mike, he was so scared. Mitchell was so scared and broken up over what he said would happen. I thought... I thought he was overreacting and that we could save him. I thought we could protect him and keep him from becoming the monster he was afraid he would become again. But god, I was so wrong."

"What happened -- and you can skip over the part where Mitch was involved in a massacre and was willing to be arrested and dealt with."

"Yeah, that was another mess. Anyway, Mitchell was arrested for the massacre -- even though none of the police knew what he was. he let them cuff him and didn't even try to escape or anything like that. But while they were processing him and all of the stuff that went along with that, news came that someone else had already confessed and they let Mitchell go. I thought that was a good thing -- that he could find ways to atone as he had years ago when he tried walking away from what his maker wanted him to be."

"Herrick?"

"Yeah, and oh, by the way, he's dead, too. Mitchell killed him."

"Good on Mitch. Herrick was an asshole."

"No argument from me. Anyway, Mitchell came home and he handed me a stake, begging me to kill him while he still had time. I refused. No way was I killing my best mate. He kept telling me he was running out of time and whoever had arranged for someone else to take the fall for the massacre would be coming for him. He said that they would expect him to pay back the _favor_ they had done for him. I... god, Mike, I thought that he was cracking up under the pressure of the past few days. And I was so fucking wrong."

Mike didn't push, even though he was losing patience with this whole thing. His brother was a wreck and he wanted information so that he could take care of the assholes that had caused this and destroyed Mitch. However, he could hear that George wasn't doing particularly well at the moment, either. He could be an asshole, but not when someone who he knew was a good guy was hurting like this.

"Right after I told Mitchell I wasn't going to hurt him for the third time, his nightmare arrived. His name was Edgar Wyndham and he was an old one." He sighed. "He told Mitchell he was coming with him and would be his attack dog for anyone he chose to set him on so he could take control. Mitchell tried to resist, but he was compelled by Wyndham. Fucking wanker had so much power and he used it to force Mitchell to come to his side. I knew he had been right. The person he had tried to be was never going to be allowed to come back and he'd be forced into some kind of messed up slavery for as long as he existed. Mike, I couldn't. I couldn't do that to him. I couldn't allow someone to destroy everything he was -- break his soul, even more, when I had the means to stop it. He had begged me to kill him to save him and everyone around him. As Wyndham was telling us all about what he had planned, I killed Mitchell." George started to break down. "In those few seconds, he was himself again. He thanked me for saving him and for being his best friend. Then he asked me to tell Anders he loved him. That was the last thing he said, then he smiled and was gone."

"You did the right thing, George. Mitch would never have wanted to be used like that and turned into a monster. No matter what he was going through or what caused him to be involved in a massacre, he was a good man. He tried so hard to go against his instincts for so long."

"He did and he was always fighting. He ... we fought not long before that and I told him that all of my troubles were because he was in my life. I killed my first person because of him... though at the time it was Herrick and he should have stayed dead. I implied that I didn't need him anymore because I had my wife. I told him I hated him."

"Why didn't he just leave and come here?" It was an honest question. If Mitchell wasn't wanted around his friends in Bristol he could have relocated permanently to Auckland. Five gods could probably have done more to help him defeat that bloodlust that was driving him mad from time to time a lot better than anyone else could. "I mean, if you guys didn't want him around or didn't feel safe with him there around you, he had a home here."

"I don't know, Mike. Maybe he should have. Maybe he would be alive right now if he had just turned his back on all of us here and left. Maybe he knew that I didn't really hate him and that everything happening was just too much." George sighed. "He was too damned loyal to us and too worried about what might happen to our family if he just disappeared. I treated him horribly in those last days and he still stayed, and it was me he asked to kill him. He should have just walked away from all of us."

Now Mike winced, not able to refrain from looking over at Anders. How often had they all treated him badly and he was still around when they really needed him? How cruel and dismissive had they been of him because the way he did things, and yet he was always there to fight for them? What could have happened to any of them had Anders just decided he'd had enough and left them?

"He cared about you, George. You, Annie, Nina... all of you there. You were his family."

"And look what we did to him. Real swell family."

"We're coming there, all of us. We'll do something to honor Mitch... and then we're going to hunt down this Wyndham guy and everyone like him." He pretended not to see three sets of eyes turn to look at him in surprise. "We'll make sure that his death was not in vain."

"I... I uh killed Wyndham, actually," George said quietly. "He was so shocked at what I had done to Mitchell that he wasn't expecting anything from me. He probably would have killed me after the shock wore off. All I could think about was what he wanted to do... and how he was willing to break and destroy Mitchell. He really did call him his Attack Dog and treated him like he was nothing because he was younger. I saw red and was so upset about Mitchell being dead that I just reacted and he's gone, too. But there are others," he said hastily. "If you still want, we could certainly use the help to get rid of some of the others that were causing issues and think humans are nothing but food and playthings."

Mike nodded. "We'll be there, then. But George, you need to know one thing. We're coming to help you out, but we're not doing it _for_ you. We're doing it for Mitch."

He wanted to make that perfectly clear. George may have had no choice but to kill Mitch to save him, but Mike couldn't dismiss the fact he had killed him. He had been part of their family and he had been loved by his brother.

"I know." George didn't seem either surprised or even offended about it. He had his own guilt and demons about what had happened in those last days and hours. "I wouldn't want it done for me, anyway. After all, I'm the one who is still alive and free."

Mike thought he would have his own hell to deal with over the next few days and weeks.

He talked with George for a few minutes more and then ended the call. he took a deep breath, placing the phone on the counter before returning to the room everyone was gathered in.

"I'm calling a Thing," he said firmly. His shift in personality and the light in his eyes reminded anyone who knew him that he was Ullr, God of the hunt. "We're going hunting."

Mike didn't often call a hunt, in fact, they couldn't recall the last time he even considered it.

But then they all thought of Mitchell, dead. They looked at Anders, more broken than they had ever seen him.

Baldr, Hod, and Odin were very much in agreement with Ullr. Four of the Johnsons were of a like mind.

Anders was silent for a long moment, then he drained his glass and turned his head to look at the others. From behind his eyes, they clearly saw the presence of Bragi. The poet and the god of words had several words he would like to have with certain people.

"A hunt to teach people why you do not mess with one of ours sounds like a very good thing right now."

Olaf let a grim smile cross his face and then he looked at Mike. "Well, Mikkel? Are you going to tell us what you found out from George?"

Mike nodded, then perched on the arm of the sofa. He wasn't happy about making Anders live through the story, but maybe his brother needed to know the full story of what happened. At least he would know that the man he loved had not been killed in some random act of stupidity or violence. Maybe it would help some.

"What Anders said about George not having any choice was true." Sounds of disbelief were made but Mike held up his hand. "I know, I didn't want to believe it, either. But it's the truth. In fact," here he glanced at Anders before looking back around at the rest of his family. "Originally Mitch begged him to and George said no."

"So what made Mitch want to commit suicide by best friend and why the hell did George change his mind?" Ty really did not sound at all happy and Mike was pretty sure they would have to keep him from being alone with George for quite a while.

"Things were happening that were making Mitch start having what was becoming a losing fight with his bloodlust. He was fighting against it like hell but there's apparently some massive vampire bullshit going on over there. Mitch was trying to be a good guy and the bad guys kept coming at him and pushing things." No one would blame him for glossing over a few details. "There was a massacre and Mitch was right in the big middle of it, but it was tearing him apart when he came out of whatever caused him to go off like that. He and George fought; George told Mitchell that he hated him and every bad thing that had happened lately was because they were friends."

"He should have left them and come here," Axl snarled. "We could have helped him."

"Those were my thoughts exactly, and he might have if he had been given the time. But an old one came looking for him. Said that Mitch was going with him and would do what he wanted him to do. He actually called him his attack dog." The glass Anders was holding shattered as it went flying across the room to slam into the wall. Axl got up from his seat and went to sit next to him. Mike sighed and looked back at Olaf and Ty. "Mitch didn't want to go with him. George said that he then understood why Mitch had been in such a panic when he begged George to kill him. The old bastard used some kind of mind compulsion on Mitch to force him to go to his side. George said that he knew that what the old one wanted to turn Mitch into would destroy him. Not only would he basically be a slave, but he would be the killer used at the old one's whim. George knew that he couldn't condemn Mitch to that kind of an existence so he killed him in front of the old bastard."

"Fuck..." Ty breathed.

"In those last seconds, Mitch was himself again. He told George to tell Anders he loved him, and then he was gone."

The entire room was silent as they processed what Mike had found out. Then Anders lifted his head and looked right at Mike. There was a light in his eyes that didn't look quite sane, and the brothers could only wonder at what kind of conversation might be happening between him and Bragi in his mind.

"When do we leave?"


End file.
